Israeli trade and industry minister and leader of the far-Right Jewish Home party falls foul of country's strict laws against taking relics abroad after brandishing coin on US television

Naftali Bennett, one of Israel's most flamboyant and combative politicians, has fallen foul of the country's strict laws against taking relics abroad after displaying an ancient coin on American television to support his view that Jews have a historic claim to the West Bank.

Mr Bennett, the trade and industry minister and leader of the far-Right Jewish Home party, took the coin from his pocket during a heated exchange over Jewish settlements with interviewer Christiane Amanpour in an interview with CNN.

He held the artifact to the camera while vigorously objecting to Ms Amanpour's description of the West Bank - claimed by the Palestinians as part of a future state but also home to around half-a-million Israeli settlers - as "occupied".

"Since you say the term occupied, I have to point out, I am holding a coin here from Jerusalem," Mr Bennett said, talking over Ms Amanpour's attempts to defend her use of the word as an internationally-accepted term.

"This coin, which says "Freedom of Zion" in Hebrew, was used by Jews 2,000 years ago in the state of Israel, in what you call occupied. One cannot occupy his own home."

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Mr Bennett - a self-made high-tech billionaire who is opposed to a Palestinian state - was speaking from a studio against a backdrop of what appeared to be New York's Central Park.

Haaretz newspaper reported that he had technically broken the law by taking the coin abroad without applying for an export license. Israeli antiquities law requires licenses to be issued for the removal of objects dating from before 1700. They usually need the written permission of the head of Israel's antiquities authority, or someone acting on his behalf.

The coin is believed to have been unearthed in an excavation of an area thought to have been the site of the second Jewish temple, which existed between 516BC and 70AD.

It was unclear whether Mr Bennett, who was visiting the US on a visit that included attempts to lobby against the terms of a proposed deal on Iran's nuclear programme, was aware he had breached regulations.

"The coin is currently making its way back to Israel, after a Zionist mission in front of tens of millions of Americans," a spokesman for his office told Haaretz, adding that the coin had been legally purchased from a reputable antiques shop. "Next time, the minister's bureau will be meticulous in advising that the coin is going abroad."